Hokkaido pumpkin and green tea cake

Italian Tomato (Tseung Kwan O)

Saw the poster and the Hokkaido pumpkin cake looked tempting as well as the Kagoshima purple potato cake.

Initially they tried to stop me taking photos of the cake, but after I told them it was for a food commentary, they were more friendly and offered to give me a leaflet as well. Whoopie Doo.

They only had the pumpkin one, so I bought that.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Hokkaido pumpkin and green tea cake:

It was nicely layered with soft green tea cake and pumpkin mousse garnished with cream, chocolate curls and a piece of chestnut.

It was too sweet and the pumpkin mousse had quite a fair bit of chestnut in it too which made it extremely starchy.
There was not enough pumpkin in this cake to taste it and it tasted more like a chestnut cake.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Delicious prawn crackers from Bangkok Thai

Bangkok Thai Restaurant (Wan Chai)

Thanks to the PR for bringing us these prawn crackers from one of their Restaurants at a recent tasting at Ahu noodles at Tin Hau.

The prawn crackers were sealed in a bag with a Bangkok Thai Restaurant label.

We were told that Bangkok Thai were going to sell Prawn Crackers as snacks later on.

I loved the taste of these crackers, they had a lovely black pepper and prawn taste taste.

Luscious greens at your expense!

O Green Cafe (Sheung Wan)

I have always wanted to try this place but they do not open on Sundays, so the only time I can try it is during the weekdays.

The menu and style is similar to Dandy Cafe down the road.

The cafe is quite small with about 3-4 tables.

There is a salad bar at the front and a cabinet for drinks and vegan cakes.

Although they did not stop me taking photos, I just noticed the "no photo" sign on the way out.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Green salad:

As you can see, lots of luscious greens, topped with three slices of tofu, sauce and flax seeds.
I liked the fact I was paying for a green salad and that was what I got, no other nonsense and fattening dressings.
The salad tasted really nice and the tofu was panfried, but there was too much flax seeds for my liking.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Cucumber soda:

I expected the cucumber soda to be good because I have tried the Vanilla flavour which is not sweet at all.
It tastes like pure cooling cucumber with some fizz in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The cost of this meal was quite expensive but the portions were huge and it was mainly greens which was good because they did not use cheap pastas to make it wholesome.

Buffet @ Garden Cafe

Garden Cafe (North Point)

Selected Garden Cafe for buffet because it was close to the MTR station.

There was a wide selection of food and a drinks counter.

Here are some of the highlights in the selection:
huge steamed fish

Braised ducks feet and mushrooms:

Here is one of the plates of food I had:

The dessert selection was great too, they had banoffee pie.

The green tea bun was cute and not too sweet.


The mint mousse with chocolate with my favourite because the mint was refreshing balanced by the rich chocolate flakes.

Lastly I finished with a cherry crepe with cream.


I'll be back!

Cakes @ J'aime bien Patisserie

J'aime bien Patisserie (Wan Chai)

It was hard getting a seat there because it was packed with people so opted for takeaway.

Since there were only two cakes I wanted to try I could not get a box because you only get a box for three cakes or more.
I don't think I would have been impressed if I bought the most expensive cake which costs $52 and given just a flimsy paper bag to carry it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Pistachio and tofu entremet:


Pistachio dacquoise, tofu mousse, red fruit jelly, white chocolate glaze
This was my favourite, light tofu mousse with fragrant pistachio puree and fruity red jelly in the middle.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Caramel Cube $42:

The caramel cube was a bit heavy with a cheesecake texture.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Noodles @ 新拱照車仔麵

新拱照車仔麵 (Wan Chai)

Came here for some quick instant noodles.

The only bonus of ordering the noodle set was the bottled coke.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Instant noodles with luncheon meat, pork blood jelly:

The noodles were too soft and tasteless, and the blood curds were quite salty.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Nice rice containers

Joy Luck House (Lok Fu)
Disgusting Chinese food again so I will be brief.

The only thing that caught my attention was the rice!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Chinese Roast pork:

Extremely thick cut charsiu that was nice and soft, but the main let down was the oil and the saltyness and sweetness of their marinade.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Stir fried prawns:

These prawns were too salty and there were far too many spices on the prawns which can be seen on the photo.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Rice:

The rice came in a cute metal pot encased in a steep knitted bowl.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★